The windy and rainy conditions could not prevent Langley schools from combining to capture three Fraser Valley team titles while finishing runner-up in two more divisions to find the podium in five of the six age groups.
The runners were competing last Wednesday afternoon at South Surrey’s Crescent Park, site of the Fraser Valley cross-country championships.
Both Grade 8 Fraser Valley banners went to Langley schools with Langley Christian winning the girls banner and Walnut Grove taking the honours in the boys category.
The Langley Christian trio of Abigail Yakemchuk, Kezia Coutts and Myrlaine Shelvey combined to score eight points, five ahead of MEI’s 13 points.
Yakemchuk finished the race fifth overall with a time of 11:26.70 in the 2.8-kilometre race. Kezia Coutts (11:53.65) was ninth overall and Myrlaine Shelvey (12:25.09) was 11th overall.
Betty Gilbert’s Cassidy Buchanon cracked the top 10, finishing seventh overall in 11:39.89.
For the Grade 8 boys race, which was also a 2.8-km run, a pair of Walnut Grove runners finished one-two as Leo Egger (9:40.78) edged Daylen Peterson (9:44.13) by less than five seconds. The Gators’ David Armstrong was seventh overall at 10:17.81 while Evan Calbick was 12th at 10:40.78.
The trio finished with eight points to win the division.
Both Walnut Grove junior boys and junior girls teams placed second for their divisions.
The junior girls finished with a combined 46 points, nine back of first-place Abbotsford Christian, in the 4-km race.
Kayla Chanteloupe (16:04.89) was eighth overall while Jaidyn Jackson (16:10.51) also cracked the top 10.
Kelsey Stelnicki (16:53.26) and Kayla Serviss (17:18.16) also placed for Walnut Grove.
The top local runner in the race was Langley Christian’s Leah Bakker who finished sixth with a time of 15:46.63.
In the junior boys’ 4-km race, Walnut Grove had 62 points, 20 behind Earl Marriott’s 42 for top spot.
Cameron Calbick was fourth overall with a time of 13:27.80, with Jack Hardy (13th overall, 14:06.36), Nick Raymond (25th, 14:38.57) and Evan Wright (52nd overall, 15:29.26) also placing.
The Mountain Eagles placed three runners among the top seven in the 5.1-km race as they ran away with the senior boys title, finishing with 28 points, 44 ahead of second place Holy Cross.
Leading the way were Zach and Tate Wyatt, who finished second and third, respectively, with times of 16:00.28 and 16:02.19. Jordan Schmidt was seventh (16:28.76) and Felix Allen (18:05.74) was 22nd.
And in the senior girls’ 5.1-km race, Walnut Grove’s Grace Chalk was fourth overall with a time of 19:23.85 while Langley Christian’s Brooke Mussche also cracked the top 10, finishing in 20:10.76 for ninth. Brookswood’s Kayla Weltzin was 12th in 20:28.03.
The runners now prepare for the B.C. championships Nov. 4.
